Something that’s been weighing on my heart lately: AI, authenticity, and the beauty of being human.
AI is an incredible tool. It can help us create, learn, build, and do things we may not otherwise have the time, resources, or ability to do. I think there are genuinely wonderful things about that.
But there is a side of this that makes me sad. The lies. The deception. The way real talent, real creativity, and real human connection can get washed out in a sea of artificial perfection.
Discernment, people. Please pray for discernment. 🙏🏻
Something especially close to my heart is music.
Over the last few months, I've started creating and sharing my own songs. Music, writing, and singing have always been therapy for me. And as I've gotten older, I've become even more aware of how important it is to keep learning, creating, and challenging our brains. Writing lyrics, learning melodies, and singing are meaningful ways for me to keep growing cognitively, creatively, emotionally, and spiritually. At 47, those things mean more to me than ever.
So, in the spirit of being as transparent as I possibly can, here's exactly how I do it.
I write my own lyrics. I choose the genre, the style, the vocal range, and the feel of the background music. I use an AI program to help create the instrumental because, well, I don't have a band sitting in my laundry room. 😂 I play piano and flute, but I can't exactly play either one while singing, and I don't have the time or resources to find a band and record in a professional studio.
I record my vocals on my dusty Mac, with a FIFINE microphone and headphones, in my LAUNDRY ROOM. Then I use GarageBand for the final editing.
I do a few takes. I make adjustments. But I'm not spending hours and hours trying to manufacture some flawless, airbrushed version of myself.
Because it's ME.
My words. My heart. My voice. My story.
It's not Taylor Swift (thankfully 😂), and I'm not pretending to be something I'm not.
I have never claimed to be a professional vocalist or a musical genius. I'm a woman who loves music and writing and has found a way to create something meaningful with the tools available to her.
And I think there's a difference between using a tool to help you bring your own creativity to life and passing off something artificial as entirely your own human performance.
I've created enough music now that I can often recognize the telltale qualities of an AI-generated voice. Heck, my 13-year-old daughter can spot it a mile away! 😂 And yet, I'm amazed by how many people believe the videos they're watching and the voices they're hearing online are real people. They respond emotionally, form connections, and invest themselves in something without realizing that what they're engaging with may not even be a real human being.
Think about that for a minute.
We are living in a time when something can look real, sound real, and feel real without actually being what it appears to be.
And that should make us pause.
Not live in fear. Not reject every new technology. Not assume everything is a lie.
But learn to question, learn to discern, and learn to recognize the difference between a tool and a deception.
I don't write songs for likes, follows, or some imaginary record deal. 😂 I'm not trying to become famous. I do it because I discovered in eighth grade that I loved to sing, and that love has stayed with me through some incredibly difficult seasons.
After Sam was born, I went through a period when I lost my entire speaking and singing voice for a YEAR. I had experienced vocal cord cysts, too, and losing my voice absolutely crushed me.
I don't think I fully understood then what singing meant to me. I certainly didn't know much about the vagus nerve at 24. LOL. But I've come to appreciate how singing can support relaxation, emotional regulation, breathing, and our overall sense of well-being. And singing praises to God? That's something even deeper for me. It's medicine for my soul in a way that goes beyond anything I can adequately explain.
And I don't want a world where we become so fascinated with artificial perfection that we forget the beauty of imperfect humanity.
Give me the real guitar strings. The fingers fumbling across piano keys. The slightly raspy voice. The crack in someone's voice when they're singing something that means everything to them. The lyrics written in the middle of a hard season. The music that isn't perfectly produced but carries a piece of someone's heart.
Give me the wrinkles. The marionette lines. The unfilled lips. The unfiltered faces. The imperfect voices. The people who are still learning, still creating, still trying.
Real doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful.
And please hear me: I'm not saying AI has no place in creativity. I am saying that honesty matters. Attribution matters. Human effort matters. And our ability to recognize truth matters.
We need to teach our kids to think critically, question what they see, and understand that not everything on a screen is what it claims to be. We need to protect the value of genuine human creativity without being afraid to use helpful tools responsibly.
Most of all, we need to keep connecting with actual human beings as much as physically possible. Have real conversations. Make real music. Write something with your own hands. Learn an instrument. Sing even if you're not particularly good at it. Create something that might never go viral but means the world to you.
And when the world feels confusing, remember that we are not left to navigate every new generation and every new challenge on our own. God equips His people for the times in which He places them. We can ask Him for wisdom, test what we encounter, and seek to walk in truth rather than being swept along by everything that looks impressive.
So yes, use the tools. Explore. Create. Learn.
But please, don't surrender your discernment in the process.
Don't let artificial perfection rob you of the joy of real beauty.
And never, ever lose the joy that Christ Jesus gives us….a joy that doesn't depend on algorithms, applause, followers, or the approval of the world.
Be wise. Be honest. Be discerning. And stay beautifully, imperfectly HUMAN. ❤️🙏🏻
